DanganRonpa Trigger Happy Inverted: School of Despair Chapter 0- PL
by Memelord2000
Summary: This is a scenario in which all of the primary characters of the DanganRonpa universe grow up and have different events shift them ro different paths than they took in their game lives. In other words, the characters grew up to have different views, personalities, and in some cases even talents. This specific story focuses on the cast of Trigger Happy Havok, and is the prologue.


Chapter 0: the Prologue.

The massive highschool towers over the whole area, casting shade on everything around it. This high school isn't any ordinary high school, it's one the most skilled and elite people in the world go to so they can succeed more than anywhere else. It's a government funded school of privilege; a school made to help the best of the best excel even more and inspire hope in our nation's future. Because of that, Hope's Peak seems to be a very fitting name.

Before we go further, I should probably tell you who I am. My name is Byakuya Togami. You may have heard of my family before, as the Togami family owns the largest corporation in the world and is very prominent in society. Still, if you've seen the news like most, you would know that I didn't grow up as a Togami like I was supposed to. I was lost as a kid, and wound up living with a wonderful family for my early life. Then… my real family showed up, and they tore my life apart…

Still, that can be a story for later. You can likely guess how I was accepted into this school, being the heir to the most powerful company in the world, but you probably are wondering if this school is just a school of rich scumbags. Thankfully, not everyone at this school is rich or in a situation like me, and I am in fact a minority. Actually, why don't I tell you a bit about the classmates I learned I will be spending the next few years with?

I did a bit of a preparation yesterday, using the Togami Corporation database to research some of the people going to the school in my class. Sure, I could just have looked it up online or something, but I felt that the database could be more accurate, although it was a bit irritating to use something related to something I hate… but anyway, I found out there are quite a few interesting people enrolled in my class.

One person I found out was enrolled is an incredible writer. Her name is Toko, and she apparently has been writing amazing novels since she was a little kid. On top of that, she seems to be pretty nice and smart, so she is definitely someone I will be glad to meet.

Another person I saw was enrolled was a guy named Chihiro. Funny thing is, I watched his fights on T.V. when he was just starting to get to where he is today, and I was shocked to see that he is going to be in the same class as me. He seems like a cool guy, though since he is the Ultimate Martial Artist I should be careful…

Then there was one guy I'm a tad bit worried about… He is a guy named Makoto, and he was apparently drawn in a lottery by the school to join, though I think that is a lie… he bought out the administration of the school… the guy is filthy rich… He apparently won the lottery a total of 7 times throughout his life somehow, and thanks to the money he seems to have grown up to be a pushy dirtbag… I'm honestly glad I didn't get found sooner as a kid, because I'm worried I could have turned into someone like him…

Anyway, they aren't the only ones. There are many others, like the Ultimate Artist, Ultimate Clairvoyant, Ultimate Detective, and then some. There are so many people here, but I honestly am glad… I'm happy I will get to meet some more people and learn their life stories. I love learning from others and helping inspire others, so hopefully here I can do that with my classmates!

Still, just standing here outside the school i am getting a bit nervous… I may be the heir to the Togami name, but I'm not sure I want that. I miss my real family, and I wonder if I can even survive a place like this with the way I grew up. Still, I need to go in. There's a time for everything, especially change. And for me, that time is now!

I walked into the main hall, pushing open the large door, and began to look around. On the wall, a large clock read 7' O clock. There is supposed to be a meeting at around 8 for all of the new students… I came early to try and meet people ahead of time, but it seems I came too early, even for that…

I sat there for about 10 minutes, waiting for someone to show up, but nobody did. I must have really arrived early.

Well, I guess I should walk around and check out the school in the meantime… That will at least help the time pass.

And with that I walked forward and out of the hall. These were supposed to be my first steps to change; my first step to a new life. The key word in all of that being 'supposed'

Because when I stepped forward, the world around me began to crackle and fade…

It was like a massive delusion, melting and spinning around into itself before melting again…

"What's… going…"

Before I could finish my sentence I had already became woosy… then everything went black.

At this point, I should have known things weren't going to be better here.

From this point it would only get worse.

And the only thing that would remain the same is the ever present feeling of despair.

"...Ah… what the hell…?"

I wake up with my face on the floor in some weird room I've never seen before. It's a very strange situation to be in at the slightest. All I can think is 'how did I get here?' and 'why did I pass out?' both things I have no answer to. I didn't have particularly long to think like that, as I quickly noticed a little pamphlet on the ground next to me. The pamphlet read 'Hey there, kid! Welcome to your new life! As of today, this school will be your world for the making!'

Talk about a weird thing to find… and on top of that, it looks like some little kid wrote it or something… weird, but I'll live.

Anyway, I guess I should take a look around the room I am in… mabey I can get more of a clue to what's going on. I began to look around at everything… from what it seemed, I was in a trophy room of sorts. Weird. There were many trophies everywhere in the giant case, there was even a sword. I decided to inspect one closer… each of them was for a different sport and title, and they were all seemingly made of gold. Then I noticed one that had an inscription. 'Hope's Peak Academy student and prodigy'

"Oh! I must be inside Hope's Peak then!" I said loudly to myself. But still… something didn't feel right…

I passed out in the main hall, and woke up wherever 'here' is… and on top of that there is the weird pamphlet, and evermore the question of why I passed out to begin with. This all made little sense, but that didn't matter much. I had a million questions without answers, and there was only one way to find them- move forward. And with that I left the trophy room and entered into a hallway. The hall was short and ended with the hallway turning into another with a staircase going up on one side. The weird part was the staircase was barred off.

"Why would a school need to seal off part of its own campus like this?" It was very weird, but I didn't have time. I couldn't see a clock anywhere, but it was easy to assume it would already be 8, time for the meeting, if it hasn't already began without me. With that I walked forward, looking for the doors to the main hall I was in earlier. I found it pretty quickly and when I did…

Nearly everyone else was already there, waiting.

"Oh! Another new guy!" called out a man with unusual looking hair that I could only describe as being sea urchin-like.

"So… that makes 15 students with him. I wonder if there is anyone else missing?" commented a lady wearing very… unusual clothing.

"Well, I think there is supposed to be 16 people. Maybe someone was late?" called a fellow with curly yet well combed hair.

As they said that, I moved aside as one more student, a boy in a expensive suit, strolled in.

"Sorry I was late guys, but I guess I passed out or something. I don't really know why, but I don't think it matters anyway."

"So 16 then… and I will say that our *situation* of arrival is quite… odd…" stated the girl with the odd clothes again.

"Hmph, well we can deal with that later. Why don't we all just introduce ourselves?" a girl replied. "We can't get anything done if we don't know who anyone is…"

"Good point! Everyone should introduce themselves so we can know who we are. After that we can try to dig into what's going on." another girl replied.

At this point I was bit lost… everyone was moving fast… but I guess I should just introduce myself to everyone and figure out who is who…

Then maybe I can figure out what's really going on…

I started off by walking up to a small group of 5 random people. I may have looked everyone up, but I don't know what they are really going to be like. The databases could be wrong, after all. Either way, I'll never know if I don't find out for myself!

The first person I walked up to was a girl with long, blond hair done in odd but mesmerising fashion. "Hi there! I am Junko Enoshima. Pleasure to meet you!"

Talk about irony with her being the first one I meet… When she was a kid she was found to have immense intellect compared to anyone else around the world, putting even people like Einstein to shame at a young age. Unfortunately that gave her a lot of attention, both positive and negative. One day when she was out with her parents in public she was attacked by someone with a hammer... The person got away, mixing into the crowd and was never found, and they never even discovered why they did it… Still, she recovered, but the attack took its toll. She suffered brain damage, and lost her memory and her hyper intellect. It was a despair inducing day for everyone…

Junko is also quite beautiful, and thus became a popular model despite everything that happened, and that got her into Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Model.

Still, I wonder if that's the real reason they wanted her here...

"So, what are you standing there for? Don't you want to talk or something?"

Junko asked me this, noticing that I was lost in thought.

"Oh! Sorry… I was just remembering something…" I replied hastily.

"Oh, thats fine! Anyway, I guess I will talk to you later then!" Junko gave a smile and walked off.

Talk about a way to start introductions…

The next person I walked up to was another girl, this time with short black hair.

"Hello there. My name is Mukuro Ikusaba."

Ah! So this is Mukuro, the sister of Junko everyone said was also going here. Although she wasn't hyper-intelligent like her sister, Mukuro was still a skilled warrior with weapons and was quite smart. She worked the first half of her life training her mind to hopefully one day become as great as her famed sister once was, and although she never got there she became a master of logic and strategy. From that, she became enrolled as the Ultimate Strategist.

"So, how much do you know about strategy and warfare?" She asked this like it was a regular conversation starter, which I guess it could be for her. "I know a bit about strategy, but personally know very little about actual warfare and such…" I replied, hoping that I wouldn't somehow offend Mukuro.

"Well that's fine I guess. Perhaps I could teach you about it sometime, or at the very least we could do a round of Chess." she seemed to be pretty calm and polite, but I still know what she's capable of. I need to be careful, but maybe we can become friends at some point if things go well.

The next person I approached was a guy for a change. He was relatively tall, but seemed to have very little muscle for his height. He also had an… interesting haircut. "H-hello there! My name's Mondo. Mondo Oowada." This guy has a pretty sad past. His only family as a kid was his brother, who ran a biker gang. Problem was, his brother was afraid of losing him, as Mondo was his last piece of family left. Because of that, he sent him away to keep him safe. He hoped that when Mondo was older he could get him back, but he died in an accident before that. Worst part is Mondo wanted to join his gang to grow stronger as a person, but he got turned down for being too weak. Either way, he put his work into his studies and became very talented at vehicle design. For that, he was drafted as the Ultimate Vehicle Engineer.

"So, you like cars or anything? I personally love motorcycles and stuff, and it's my specialty designing them." He asked. He seemed genuinely curious about if I was interested in cars.

"Well, I like sports cars and such, but I am not particularly the best guy to ask about it." I replied.

"Oh…" he said, mildly disappointed. "Well, hey! If you ever decide to look into cars or bikes, just remember I'm the guy to ask!" Mondo said with a strong smile.

He seemed pretty nice, but he also seemed a little obsessed with cars, which granted is his line of work. I guess it's better than having an interest in more negative stuff. Hopefully we can get along this year.

The next person I ran into was a girl with bright, beautiful clothing and nice, lavender colored hair.

"Hi! I'm Kyoko! Nice to meet you!" She said in a very cheerful voice.

Ah, Kyoko. From what I heard she came from a family of mostly detectives, but in the end her intellect wound up giving her a massive following of friends. She turned from an antisocial but logical girl to someone who wore their emotions on their sleeves and had lots of friends. Unfortunately, as a result, she wound up missing out on the detective training that would have gave her an easier life later on, but she still wound up being rather smart, and i guess it's better to be happy than wealthy. Hell, I understand that better than most. Either way, she still has a lot of potential going here, even as the Ultimate Socialite.

"So, your Byakuya right?" she asked me.

"How did you know my name?" I replied, confused. She laughed a bit.

"I've seen you on the news before, 'lost boy'. Talk about a change, right? Going from poor to billions in a couple of days!"

She was trying to be nice, but I really didn't want to talk about this… it isn't as particularly as good a memory as people would think…

"Anyway, nice to meet you! I look forward to getting to know you!" she smiled and walked off looking at everyone else. She seemed nice, but also oblivious to others' feeling a bit at the same time. I guess I should tell her if she ever gets a little out of line… maybe that will help her down the line.

Next up was the guy with the most ridiculous haircut I have ever seen, even with the odd hair some of the other students had.

"So, how are ya? My names Yasuhiro Hagakure, but you can call me Hiro for short. As long as we take it easy, I think everything will end up fine!"

What a odd way to introduce yourself… I guess he must be a pretty laid back guy or something, which kind of fits what I know. The thing about Hiro is there wasn't very much info about him in the database, which was odd considering it belonged to the most powerful group in the

world.

So far all I know about Hiro is he is laid back, incredibly talented at math, and was held back multiple times in high school, which in itself is impressive in a sort of bad way. Other than that, this guy is a blank slate in our database, which is very strange…

"So, Byakuya, what exactly is your talent? I know you're rich and all, but that isn't really your talent, right?" I shrugged off the fact he knew my name preemptively and replied quickly.

"Being rich isn't my talent. My technical title is more about leadership than anything… I mean, I'm not the Ultimate Rich Kid…"

Hiro laughed. "Yeah, but that would be one hell of a talent though. Especially for someone who doesn't particularly want to be rich in the first place."

With that I walked off to the next group of 5 people, happy to leave Hiro, who was slowly starting to creep me out a bit…

The next person I approached was the girl in the weird clothing from earlier. He clothes were white and very formal, and she also had a hat covering most of her black hair.

"Hello, there. My name Is Taeko Yasuhiro, but you may just call me Taeko."

Taeko is, from what I learned, a very polite, respectful, and honest person, but she was not at all always like that. As a matter of fact, when she was younger she was a skilled gambler and liar, which helped her amass a fortune over time. That all ended when she entered an underground gambling tournament, however. Although she won every play she made, the operation was discovered. From that she lost everything she worked for, going into a long depression.

Luckily for her, she decided to seek redemption, and she dedicated herself to honestly, morales, and doing the right thing. From that she grew better as a person, gave up her old values under her nickname 'Celeste', and she became recruited as the Ultimate Moral Compass.

"So, I just want to say that you have a nice taste in clothing" She said, pointing out the suit I was wearing.

"I… I didn't choose to wear this, honestly…" I replied. I would have much rather worn normal clothes.

"Oh, well that's fine. I was just saying it looked nice" she said, slowly turning and walking away.

She seems pretty polite, but I should move on to the next person.

Next up was a girl again, as a lot of the class members were girls, and this one seemed rather… gloomy and dim.

"Hey… I'm Aoi Asahina… Nice to meet you, I guess…" she said that kinda dejectedly, like her dog just died or something. But since this is Aoi, I guess it makes sense. From what I know, she is a talented swimmer, but she is also very… gloomy. She just seems to always be sad and never happy. It's quite interesting as even with her parents' support and her enthusiastic brother, she could never seem to be happy. Hmm, maybe I can change that over the time we spend together?

Aoi was silent…

"So… what kind of things do you like?" I asked, trying to be polite.

"...Why do you care?" she asked rather rudely.

"Sorry… I was just wondering…" I replied back.

"Just go talk to someone else. I'm not worth your time." before I could reply, she walked off, leaving me to wonder who to talk to next.

Next up was the last boy to come in earlier, who was wearing a black suit and tie. I hope this isn't who I think it is…

"Hey! I'm Makoto Naegi, but you can just call me Makoto."

It was him… the guys who 'won by luck' using money he got from winning the lottery. He won an incredible amount of times as a kid so there is no doubt he is lucky as hell, but that didn't excuse him from becoming who he did. He became a pushy, smug asshole who thinks he can order around everyone, and even though he is sometimes polite it is not excusable… I find people like him despicable…

"So, are you gonna say something or just stand there? We don't got all day." Makoto said that rather coldly before saying something else.

"Screw it, If you won't talk I'll go find someone else." And with that he walked off. I feel like we won't get along very well.

Well, next I guess I'll talk to Mr.Fujisaki, as he is the one guy I have more or less seen before.

"Hi there! The names Chihiro. What can I call you?" He said.

The thing about Chihiro is that is strong, and one hell of a fighter. As a kid he was called weak and bullied a lot, so he motivated himself to become stronger and more athletic. It worked out pretty well, and then he started learning to fight. By the end he was one of the most talented martial artists in the world, and he can likely only go up from where he is now. Even stand next him, I can feel a sort of aura coming off of him.

"so, judging by the way your looking at me I'm guessing you've watched my matches before, right? I'm glad I have a fan here!" He said that with a big smile. The thing about Chihiro is that even though his techniques were ruthless and somewhat unhonorable and his attitude was a bit rude, he always seemed like a decent guy beneath it all.

"Anyway, It's a pleasure to meet you! Perhaps we could train together sometime!" he said with a smile before walking off. Gotta say, it's pretty cool to meet someone you see on T.V. in real life. It's kind of ironic though, since I am probably doing that to other people here.

Next up to talk to was a guy with a hat pulled over his face, who seemed to be trying to sleep. I was about to try and talk to him to see if he was awake, but he just stood up and began speaking himself.

"Greetings. I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but you can call me Taka."

Ah, so this was the guy that I read about that was from a political family. The problem was, that family was the target of a political assassination campaign, and a majority of it was killed off. Taka was a very morally obliged kid when he was younger, but this campaign and other events slowly ground him down until he began to not care about anything anymore. He went from assertive in his views and supporting others to being laid back and unhelpful. He also grew up to be a detective as he spent much of his life training in that field to try and discover who killed his family. In the end he was successful and all of the hundreds of people responsible for the operation were arrested. Taka was praised for what he did, but never appeared recover emotionally. Hopefully I can help the guy someday. Still, the school brought him in as the Ultimate Detective, due to his incredible investigative skill.

"So, I'm guessing that you know of my situation. That's probably why you're making the face you are right now." I didn't even notice I was making a face, and instantly regretted making it. I tried to respond, but Taka cut me off. "Look, it's ok. You had nothing to do with what happened. Horrible people do stuff like that all the time. That's life. Anyway, go greet the other people."

With that, he wouldn't respond to anything else and pretended to fall asleep again. Now I finally moved on to the final five people.

The next person I ran into was a quite beautiful lady with long white hair.

"Greetings. I am Sakura Oogami."

Sakura had an interesting situation, as she was born into a family dojo dedicated to martial arts. The problem for her was that they have a test at a young age, a sort of right of passage for growing up as a warrior, and she failed it. Due to the family honor code, Sakura was sent away and would never know she was the descendant of warriors until she was much older. In the end she landed on the step of a rich model, who took interest in Sakura and worked to build her into her image. It worked out very well for her, as Sakura became a beautiful model like her, and would be recognised around the world for her taste in fashion and other things. From that, Sakura was taken into Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Fashion Specialist, as she turned out to better at coming up with clothing ideas than modeling them in the end.

"Hmm… you have an OK taste in clothing, but you could be a lot better…" Sakura stated. "you should take better care of you hair, get some type of hat, and choose a brighter color scheme so you will look better."

It's honestly pretty funny, as it's not even been a full minute and the Ultimate Fashion Specialist is already critiquing me. I guess that's why She's the Ultimate one, but I should move on. I said goodbye and walk on to the next person.

The next person to meet was a girl in dark clothing with blue hair.

"Hi there… my name is Sayaka… nice to meet you…"

Sayaka, from what I learned is a very sad girl due to her past. She wanted to become a singer, and she had the voice to do it, but she had another uncanny ability that scared others away. You see, she could very accurately predict the future, which shouldn't be a problem, but she could only see tragedy for others. From that people saw her ability as almost a curse, and it scared people away. She couldn't become a popular singer and lost her dream for it, but her psychic prowess still helped her get pulled into Hope's Peak as the Ultimate Clairvoyant. I may not be one to believe in the supernatural myself, but perhaps she will prove it is actually real.

"So… do you like music by any chance? I personally love to sing, although I never have much of an audience anymore…"

I thought about it and replied.

"Sure! Your voice sounds very smooth, so I bet you are a wonderful singer."

She gave a weak and likely forced smile.

"Thank you for saying that. That's really nice… anyway, you should go say hi to the others…"

And with that I left Sayaka alone.

The next person I met was the last girl i could see, so I assumed it must be Toko, and it turned out I was right!

"Hi! Im Toko Fukawa, but you can call me Toko!"

She gave a soft and genuine smile, obviously happy to meet me. From what I've heard about Toko, that is pretty accurate. She is known to be a very talented writer, and although she sold lots of books, most of the money went into helping a mental condition she had, although I never found out specifically what it was, even using the database. Either way, from what I knew, Toko was supposed to be a smart and quite a nice person, so I was happy to finally meet her.

"So, what kind of stories do you like? In case you don't know I love to write, so I'm curious what your interest are."

I replied "I have many different interests. I like mystery, horror, comedy, and many other styles of stories."

She smiled again. "Huh, well maybe later, I can show you some of my mystery works I am doing!"

Well, that sounds like fun. I will keep that in mind for later, but I still need to meet two people. And with that, I moved onto the next person.

The next guy was a rather average looking guy with black hair and glasses.

"Hi there! I am Hifumi Yamada. Pleasure to meet you!"

Ah, Hifumi the Ultimate Artist. I've seen some of his work and it's pretty incredible, and it's all thanks to his family. He was a talented writer too back in the day, and wrote incredible fan stories for series as a kid that made him very popular. His family felt the pressure though, and sought to create a flawless image for themselves. They taught Hifumi to act extremely modest and polite, had him dress in nice clothes and made him lose weight. In the end he turned out like a model teenager, and that made him even more popular. After that his parents decided to have him pick one specific path out of his two skills to go down and he chose art, and it was a great choice, since he is an incredible artist. Still, I can't imagine the pressure he must have gone through…

"So, what is your take on art?" He asked this politely, probably trying to see what kind of art I liked.

"well, I see art as an expression of oneself transitioned onto paper, although my view may be a bit biased…"

He laughed and smiled. "That's a pretty good description of what art is. You should try doing it sometime!"

He laughed again, a hearty and nice laugh, obviously glad at my response to his question.

After that, I needed to talk to one more student, so I moved on to the last one.

The last guy was a very sporty looking guy with a shaved head and goatee.

"Sup, the name's Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Baseball Star!"

Leon spoke with intense confidence in his skill, and for good reason. Leon has been the most sought after player for years now, being both the best pitcher and batter seen in years. The funny part is, he didnt even enjoy baseball until 2 years ago, when his dad who was a coach suffered a bad injury. His dad asked Leon to play in his name, and since then he did, dedicating much of his life to it in the recent years. And now, he is known as a living legend.

"So, what do you think is the most important attribute to a game? Strategy, teamwork, or skill?"

This question seemed out of the blue, but I answered the best I could.

"wouldn't strategy be the most important?"

He shook his head.

"In the end all three are the most important. Without one, you can't ensure victory. You have to be strong in all ways to succeed!"

Leon laughed.

"Just remember that. You may need that advice someday."

Leon seemed pretty cocky, but I wondered if that was meant to hide something more. Either way, I had met everyone, so now it was time to discuss the situation with everyone.

I was curious about what happened, so I prepared to listen and figure it out.

The first person to speak was Mukuro, who stepped into the middle of the room as I was talking to Leon.

"So, we are all acquainted right? Well, then let's start figuring out what's going on here…"

"Um… what exactly IS going on here?" I asked, a bit confused. Sure, something felt off about this meeting and the school, but so far everything seemed mostly safe at least. To this, Mukuro turned around, facing me.

"What seems to be going on is that we are being held as prisoners."

"W-WHAT!?!?!" Cried out Chihiro, who seemed to be very shocked at the statement, albeit making his strength rather ironic. "What do you mean we are being held prisoner here!?!?"

The next reply was from Makoto, and it was rather cold.

"Are you stupid or something? Did you not see the metal platings over the windows and bars on the stairs? It's clear someone is holding us here." Celeste spoke next.

"That is true… on top of that there is the hatch over the entrance… I'm starting to wonder if we are even really at Hope's Peak…"

Oh crap! I didn't even look at the entryway!

And when I glanced over to it, lone behold there was a massive metal hatch that I somehow failed to notice. I really need to give better attention to detail…

"So, if we are prisoners, our captor has gotta be somewhere, right?" That was Mondo. "So, should we go try and find them? At least then we can figure out why we are being held here and try to do something about it…"

Hifumi stepped up. "I second Mondo's notion. We should search for the supposed captor at once!"

Just as everyone was about to break off and search for the believed captor somewhere, someone unexpected stepped up.

"You know, this is probably just the schools doing. I bet they are just trying to get us hyped up for the entrance ceremony!" That was Hiro, who strode forward into the center, forcing mukuro away.

"What, are you stupid? That's obviously not what's going on here!" called out Mondo at Hagakure, who seemed to be drawing everyone's attention. To that, Hiro turned and replied coldly to Mondo.

"I know what's going on here better than you do, kid. I know what's going to drive us forward and not send us to our deaths."

Hagakure snapped back into his normal, upbeat and laid back attitude, ignoring how visibly shaken and shocked Mondo was.

"Now, I really think this situation is being blown way out of proportion. It's clear that everything going on here is probably just the work of the school. Since that's the case, we all just have to bide our time and wait for what happens next."

With that, everyone seemed to settle down except for me, Toko, and Mukuro. They all began to calm down, buying into what Hiro was saying. But why? What Hiro was saying had no ground or anything, yet everyone just bought into it…

"Are you all just gonna listen to him? This makes no sense…" Toko said to empty ears, as no one was listening. For some reason everyone seemed to be ignoring the situation now…

Everyone was just… doing nothing. Waiting like Hiro said...

But then, it began, and things began to change.

Click*

The monitors around the school buzzed to life, with no visible reason why. The screen was blank, but a rounded shadow began to grow, making the dark screen even darker, almost like a black hole.

"Ahem. Testing. 1. 2. 3. 4. This is a test of the school-wide broadcast system."

The voice speaking was… it was unusual. It was incredibly… carefree. It did not fit at all and gave me a bit of an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach by just hearing it...

"Alright, everyone report to the GYM. We will begin with our school Entrance Ceremony soon, so begin moving as soon as possible. Do not delay; I am waiting." And with that, the odd announcement ended.

Before I could respond to it, *he* spoke up.

"See! I told you all it was just to get us hyped for the entrance ceremony!" Hiro said and began walking out into the hallway. "Come on guys, he said not to dilly-dally! Let's get this over with!"

And with that, Hiro left. What shocked me was how, without even thinking, most of the other students followed him. The announcer was clearly not friendly, so why were they trusting Hiro so much? Who is this guy?

As I contemplated this to myself, I looked at the remaining students who hadn't left yet, who also seemed suspicious of the announcement.

Toko walked up to me and spoke first.

"Something isn't right with this. I'm not the only one that feels like this, right?"

"No. Something is definitely going on." replied Mukuro, who was walking to the exit.

"Still, the only way to figure out what is going on is to move ahead, so I will see you all there." And with that Mukuro left.

Now only I, Toko, and Taka seemed to be left. I walked up to him, but he stopped me before I got too close. "Look, I feel the same way in that this is very suspicious and seems very dangerous, but I don't think we have a choice here." Taka looked me in the eyes. "We need to move on before we get left behind. I don't think we have much time before something happens."

And with that, I , followed by Taka and Toko, left for the GYM. We walked along the hall, passing through the room I woke up in and entered.

And when we did, we were rather shocked. It looked like an actual entrance ceremony setup. Was Hiro actually right, somehow?

I got that answer pretty quickly.

Suddenly, from under the podium on the GYM's stage segment, a stuffed bear seemed to launch. It landed on the podium with a thud, startling everyone in the process.

"Is this some kind of joke? Who set up this bear to be launched like that?" asked Leon, staring at the bear.

"Heh, you'd wish I was just a teddy bear, but no. I AM MONOKUMA, AND I AM YOUR HEADMASTER!" The teddy bear... erm... 'Monokuma,' called out.

"Wait, it can talk and move? That's actually pretty impressive." stated Kyoko from the back, glancing at Monokuma.

"Heh, I can do a whole lot more than that, but we don't have time for idle chit-chat. Let's get the orientational ball rolling!"

Monokuma jumped off of the podium and began walking down the middle segment between the chairs.

"So, welcome to Hope's Peak, kids! This place is going to be your new home from now on, where you can grow and flourish, safe from the harmful influences of the outside world! Here, you won't have to worry about that old, hot mess!"

"Wait… so while we are here, we can't talk to the outside world? Isn't that a bit overkill?" Asked Sakura, who obviously would rather be able to talk to people on the outside since it is the focus of her work.

"YEP!" Monokuma called out in a happy voice. "And the best part is, **_you can never leave_** , so you don't have to worry about that ever again!"

That line seemed to grab everyone's attention.

"W-what? We can't leave?" called out Chihiro.

"So… we are trapped here then?!" called out Sayaka.

"Yep!" Cried Monokuma again in a very happy manner. " ** _All of you will be here until the day you die_** , simple as that!"

Monokuma looked around and forced a dramatic frown onto his face. "Why the long faces?

You look like you just saw a kitten get fried on an electric pole! Don't be sad! We have plenty of money in our budget, so you'll have everything you need and nothing to worry about!"

"That's not the main problem right now…" Stated Makoto, who seemed to be fed up with Monokuma.

"We want out. NOW."

Monokuma pretended to be scared. "O-Ok M-Mr. B-Big man… I-I'll let you go…"

Monokuma laughed.

"Yeah, no. You can't just leave like that. What are you gonna do, drop out of school? What Ultimate does that?"

Monokuma snickered to himself.

"Well, you know what, I've had a change of heart. How about this? I'll create a clause that can allow you to leave. let's just call it the graduation clause. If you fulfill its requirements, I will let you go, no strings attached. Do we have a deal?"

Mukuro stepped up.

"what exactly will be on the clause?"

"Well, for this place to run smoothly, I feel like I need to have a way to get rid of anyone who might disturb our peaceful lifestyle here at school.

As such, If you ruin the peace here and don't get caught, I'll allow you to leave."

Hiro finally stepped in and walked up to monokuma.

"So, what exactly do you mean by 'disturbing the peaceful lifestyle?"

Monokuma chuckled.

"Well, I guess if someone was to **_murder_** another student."

With that everyone went silent and the room went cold.

And out of the silence came a voice.

"W-WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE TO KILL SOMEONE TO LEAVE!?!?!" Cried out Chihiro, who seemed to be shocked by what Monokuma just said.

"Well it's simple! Just kill someone; the way doesn't matter! Do that and don't get caught and you can leave! Simple as that! It's your only option to drop out!"

And with that, the room devolved into a massive debate amongst the students, all trying to figure out what to do.

Amidst this, someone decided to do something finally.

"What the hell kind of joke is this? What are you trying to pull?" shouted Leon at Monokuma.

"We have families! LIVES! Why are you doing this?"

"Because its fun. Why else?"

This remark by Monokuma made the room go silent.

"Why else would anyone want this but to be entertained? All I want is to watch you all slowly tear yourselves apart one by one… I'm twitching with anticipation!"

And with that, Leon grabbed Monokuma, by the neck, catching the thing off guard.

Leon got to the point quick.

"I don't know what you are. I don't know why you picked us, and I don't even know what's going on. All I can say is let us go now, or your head is going to be headed to the nearest trash can at 105 miles an hour."

Monokuma seemed to become very nervous suddenly.

"V-VIOLENCE AGAINST HEADMASTER MONOKUMA IS A VIOLATION OF SCHOOL REGULATIONS! STOP NOW OR YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"

Leon didn't respond to the bear's threat.

"I said let us go or Else."

Suddenly monokuma began to beep loudly.

The beeping didn't stop either, it kept going slowly, but still just as annoyingly loud.

The beeping began picking up pace, and Leon became very confused.

"What the hell are you doing…?"

Taka looked up and called out to Leon.

"Throw that damn thing already! Can't you tell that thing is probably a bomb!?!?!"

And with that, Leon quickly threw Monokuma away, out onto the stage. And as soon as it landed there…

BAM!*

A ringing sound pierced all of our ears, and the smell of gunpowder filled the room… The bear had exploded, just like Taka said it would.

Leon stood silently, realizing that he had almost been killed by his own actions. Even worse, he almost killed others. But, Leon and the others were snapped back into attention by someone beginning to talk. Kyoko startex to speak "Uh… well... at least the bear is gone…".

And as if she had just called it, another one appeared.

"Awww, You must have really missed me…"

Leon stood up.

"You...You tried to kill me!" He was tense, obviously both nervous and angry.

"well of course. You violated a school regulation, and I take rules VERY seriously. And trust me, next time I won't punish anyone so kindly again."

With that Monokuma turned around.

"So! Now that your all acquainted to your school life, i have a parting gift before I go for now~"

Monokuma said that like he was about to give us a new car or something, which made me very nervous.

"I present to you… DRUMROLL PLEASE…

E-HANDBOOKS!"

Monokuma pulled a cart out from the corner of the gym, covered in little tablets.

"So there is one of these for each of you kids, and when they start up they will show your name. Try to remember to use the right one."

He turned one on as an example.

"these have all of your school regulations, facts about you classmates, and everything else you will need for your school life. They are also very resistant; they are durable, able to withstand 10 thousand pounds of force, they are waterproof, and they are even heat resistant! There is basically no way to break these."

He turned to the class as a whole.

"Anyway, i just want you all to know that you are all the future of this world… and when you kill, that hope gets turned into a beautiful despair… and i can't wait to see it all happen!"

Monokuma looked up one last time and laughed.

"Hehehe… stay safe kids. I'll be watching."

And with that, Monokuma disappeared.

Celeste stepped up to the center, trying to help create some order.

"So… what did you guys get out of… this…?"

Everyone began murmuring until one voice called out. Makoto.

"That doesn't matter. What really matters is the question of whether someone might actually do this."

To that everyone went silent.

No one had an answer and a cold realization hit me.

No one here knew who to trust.

No one knew whether it was safe to live here.

No one knew if someone was going to betray us…

" ** _You must kill another student to leave_**."

That line left us all confused and wondering.

Will we live?

...I guess only time will tell, but until then we just need to keep pushing forward.

Now is not the time to give up.

Now is the time for action.


End file.
